It is generally known in the art to use a flexible plastic pouch for packaging a variety of products. It is also generally known in the art that a frangible seal can be produced between heat-sealable films. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,539,263 and 4,550,141 disclose blends of partially neutralized ethylene/acid copolymer with minor amounts of propylene/acid copolymer to make heat-sealable films and laminates. Such structures are characterized by nearly constant peel strength over an extended heat seal temperature range. The blends are useful to manufacture heat-sealed flexible film packages having a seal of predictable and constant peel strength, in spite of inevitable variations in the heat seal temperature used in the production of such packages.
Pouches having curved frangible seals are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,451 discloses a dual compartment recloseable bag for marinading food formed from a flexible plastic sheet and a flexible foil sheet having an arcuate rupturable seal. U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,709 discloses a flexible container for storage and mixing together of diluents and medicaments in which the container has a peelable seal that includes a rectangular portion and a curvilinear portion that comprises an arcuate section surmounting the rectangular portion. Also U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,928,213 and 6,117,123 disclose a flexible container for storage and mixing together of diluents and medicaments in which the container has a peelable seal with a sinusoidal shape with at least one stress riser.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a multiple-compartment container that can be easily filled using conventional commercial equipment, have an internal frangible heat-seal capable of being ruptured by a sustained manual squeeze with the outer perimeter of the multiple compartment remaining intact, and be robust enough to withstand conventional shipment and customer handling.